Tuesday, 3 February 2015

In the midst of wedding planning I thought it'd be really useful to set up a travel Filofax to take on our mini-moon to the New Forest and for our honeymoon to Rhodes. I bought a Pennybridge personal purple Filofax for this very reason and to me, it's the perfect choice for a travel planner.

It's zipped so it can hold all of those important travel documents without them falling out, which is perfect when you're a panicky traveller like me. And of course, it's purple, so it has to win, really.

So my plan for my travel Filofax is simple: sunshine, fun and holiday themed. I didn't want your usual plane-themed paper and sand castles and buckets and spades, I wanted something feminine and soft, and the Ocean Melody collection by Websters Pages was perfect.

Well we are in the midst of the wedding planning chaos and I decided that my personal Finsbury was just not working for me. It wouldn't lie flat which was really annoying me, and I started to wish I'd never sold my grape domino. Low and behold... I was sent one by a lovely lady and am so far in my first week really getting along with it again. I'm not sure if it's quite the grape colour I had before but it's definitely close enough.

Just a few pictures of my favourite things at the moment - Filofax Domino, Kindle and my heatable owl <3

Anyway, today I'm talking about my plans for decoration for my Domino! Although I've started using her this week she's not decorated at all really. It's something I enjoy doing and find it helps me with my enthusiasm to use my Filofax if it looks nice.

These are my pages from this week, super busy due to wedding plans. An absolute essential writing things down at the moment, my mind is all over the place.

You'll notice I've diverted from the Organised Mum inserts which I used to love. I purchased a pack for 2015 and well.. firstly they'd not sent me the page for week commencing 23rd March (great choice of date by the way, this is when our honeymoon is...) secondly, when I first used the inserts in my Finsbury the holes seemed like they weren't punched in the right place but I thought it might have just been the rings. Then I put them in my Domino and had the same issue! Not impressed at all.

So I've gone back to cotton cream week on two pages and I actually really like it this time round.

So my decoration plans for my personal Domino... enter moodboard (come on, you know me, how else?!) I introduce you to Wildflower!

﻿

The paper, stickers and journaling cards are from Carta Bella's Wildflower scrapbook collection. I love the woodland theme and the lovely colours in this collection. Not too bright, but cheerful enough. ﻿I love the deer washi tape as well. (Going on my wishlist!)

I'm currently on a No Spend February so I can't buy anything yet, but I do have the stickers from this collection already so I might try something out with those first.

Thursday, 8 January 2015

If you wonder where I have been all this time... I've been planning my wedding! We're just 71 days away from tying the knot and I have everything sorted. Not stressed at all. Thanks to this bundle of loveliness!

I set up my A5 Malden in purple some time ago to use as a wedding planner and it has been very useful for visuals, quotes, scribbling down ideas and also as a huge comfort when I was worried about our budget. The sections were made using a set of A5 A-Z dividers, I just covered the letters on the tabs and renamed them. My sections are:

1. Budget

2. Guests

3. Ceremony

4. Reception

5. Flowers

6. Photography

7. Stationery

8. Clothes/Make-up

9. Music

10. Venue Decor

11. Gifts

12. Mini-moon

13. Honeymoon

You could of course tailor the sections to your needs, for example you might not be having a mini-moon and a honeymoon (we're just greedy!) In hindsight I probably would have divided the ceremony and reception sections as most of the items in these sections belonged in other sections anyway, for example I maybe should have had a food section.

Getting your budget on point is so important. We only managed to spend just over £5,000 on our wedding by being tactful and shopping around. You don't have to spend a fortune just because that is what is expected of you. We purchased a lot of items on Amazon and eBay, even my dress was found on eBay. The bridesmaids dresses were ordered from China and we found the waistcoats for the boys online. It takes a lot of browsing but I secretly really enjoy doing that!

Anway back to the planner... In my budget section I have a fold out year planner which can easily be drawn out on A4 grid paper and folded in so it fits the A5 Filofax. This shows when I will have to make certain payments. It's a good idea to spread out your costs, e.g. book photographer in March, pay deposit for flowers in April, so that you don't completely go bust in a month.

My guests section has a list of all the guests and their RSVPs - this is just handwritten as I've been recording everything on a spreadsheet as to who is coming, what meal they have chosen and their addresses.

Ceremony section has details about our notice of marriage, the venue and booking confirmations for our rooms the night of the wedding. You'll find if you print off quotes, booking confirmations etc. as you go and update them in your Filofax if you get a new one it's so much easier to keep track of, and useful to refer to when you have a mild panic about when the florist needs her final payment. And did you order enough buttonholes? And are there enough chair covers?!

Also in this section I've created a hand-out to give to my wedding party on the day. It's titled... CALL ANYONE BUT THE BRIDE. Because this is your day, and why the hell should you be inundated with phone calls?! You can download a copy of the checklist and info sheet here: http://1drv.ms/14zzZ1i (there's also a checklist for your groom in the download!)

Table plan is also in the ceremony section, for the wedding breakfast. Now this was one hell of a challenge seeing as there are a lot of divorced couples in our families! (I know what you're thinking, that doesn't bode well for you love... however divorce is not hereditary!)

I also have our wedding menu (printed from the venue's PDF and I've highlighted the meals we have selected), wine list (same as the menu), accommodation (who is staying at the venue) and the venue's set of terms and conditions.

Reception section has all of our cake details - quote, photograph of the cake we sent to our cake lady to base our wedding cake on, evening buffet menu and some pages for notes.

Flowers is self-explanatory - photos, quotes, and notes.

Photography - quotes, photos, notes.

Stationery - samples of our wedding stationery - just a heads up, we ordered from Vistaprint and not only was it so much cheaper than using a wedding stationary company, we got to design our save the dates ourselves, and the wedding invitations match the colour of my dress. They were so easy to order and you would never guess we skimped on the invites! We also got some posters printed for the bar:

Clothes/make-up - more photos, ideas and notes

Music - we've set up a Spotify playlist of songs we want to be played at our wedding reception and asked our guests to request a song on their RSVP cards. This was a great idea as it means we get to know everyone's taste in music. We've got quite a variety, from rock and metal to Disney and Motown!

Venue décor - again more photos, printed off and collaged onto the page showing the overall look. It's such a great way of telling if things will sit right together if you print off photos and add them to one page. We've gone for a dark pink/purple chalkboard and hessian theme.

Gifts - I've made my bridesmaids some gift bags so I've planned what to put in them in this section.

Mini-moon and honeymoon - print any details about your honeymoon and put them in your planner so they are there when you need them. Packing lists, booking confirmations, flight times, etc.

Sorry there aren't more photographs but I seem to be having some trouble getting them from my phone to my computer... argh technology. Long live paper ;)

Some more ideas for wedding planning using an A5 Filofax:

Buy a Moleskine wedding journal and hack it into your A5 Filofax. The pages are slightly narrower than the standard A5 but the corners are rounded and all the pages are pre-printed, meaning you just have to fill in your information. You also get stickers!

Make a pocket or personal size planner to take with you on the day (to keep in your room, obviously) for any last minute panics. Then you will have all the information you need to hand.﻿

My top ten words of advice for brides:
1. Do things your way. You only get married once. DO NOT listen to the internet or relatives telling you what you should and should not do. It's your choice.
2. Shop around. Don't be afraid to hunt bargains on Amazon, eBay, etc. We used Vistaprint for all of our stationery and labels for favours.
3. Keep nagging your bridesmaids, they'll give in eventually. And if they don't they're probably not worthy of being a bridesmaid.
4. Consider your bridesmaids carefully. I ended up asking one of my friends to be a bridesmaid several months after I asked the other two... which is kind of lame.
5. Stay organised. Print quotes, scribble notes, write everything down. Every thought, every eureka moment, track it. You might need it.
6. Re-look at your budget every week or so. This helps you stay on top of things.
7. Don't be afraid of asking suppliers/vendors for a new quote because you've decided you want hessian table runners instead of silver. They're being hired by you, so if they want your business they will do as many quotes as you like.
8. Always meet your photographer. You need to be able to get along with them as they will be in your face most of the day!
9. Remember you and your fiancé are in charge.
10. A final word of advice from my fiancé... as long as the registrar turns up and we have two witnesses, then we can get married, and that is the main thing. =)

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

I finally got a purple Malden! I found one on Amazon for £82 and decided to go for it, I'd always wanted a purple Malden and I wanted to use it for my wedding planner, but also for my everyday diary and home information.

I've had her for a few weeks now and she's almost completely set up the way I want, although I would like to change or add a few things. I must warn you this will be quite a picture heavy post, so grab yourself a cup of tea and a slice of cake... it's going to be a long journey!

Front Cover - Inside Pockets

From the moment I saw the inside of the Malden cover I knew it would be useful, and that I also didn't want to over-stuff it or the outside would be bulky. The only things I keep in the inside front cover are some coloured sticky tabs, and a 'stamping guide', here is how I use it:

I decorate my pages week by week to give me something to do at the weekend, and also because doing it all in one day would take forever. I use StudioL2E Plan It stamps on vertical week to view pages to create sections for each day (Menu, Bills, Appointments and To Do). The guide helps me see where I need to write future appointments on a page which I haven't stamped on yet.

Dashboard

I love Project Life cards, I started journaling at the end of last year and couldn't keep it up, so I decided to use some of the cards in my Malden. I cut the punched edge off of a Simple Stories Snap pocket page and re-punched it to fit into my binder, then I added four journaling cards - 3 for decoration, and one for emergency contact numbers - good to have in an easy to find place!

Section 1 - Contacts

I decided to use a Chalkboard, black and white, purple and teal theme for my Malden, I love this theme and it reflects me really well. In the picture above, on the left is the back of the Project Life cards (snippets from leftovers of my dividers) and on the right is my first divider for contacts.

Close-up of my tabs that I (successfully) made using black cardstock - then stamped with alphabet stamps in white ink.

Contacts pages I made myself - I didn't like any of the Filofax ones!

Diary

Originally this lace effect cardstock was a skin-tone colour but I coloured it with purple ink. I love it!! This is the divider for my diary section. I'm using vertical week on two pages - plenty of room!

At the beginning of my diary section I have monthly calendars which I found online. I use coloured dots to indicate the important dates I need to remember. (I used another beautiful Project Life card for my colour coding key and taped it to the inside of the divider).

Week to view layout with Studio L2E stamps.

Wedding Section

I decided to use purple paper for my wedding section printables because it will be our wedding colour (and I love purple in case you hadn't noticed...).

Zip pocket to hold samples of my dress and other outfits/samples I may need.

Guest list printable I made on Microsoft Word (as with most of the pages I created).

Media Section

This section is for anything media related - mainly books, television and film. I created a few lists for books I am reading or want to read, television series we watch and films on Netflix and Lovefilm that we would like to watch in the future.

Health Section

My Health section holds all of my fitness information (I don't do a lot of exercise, I much prefer eating...) but am aware I need to start looking after myself.

I keep an exercise log in this section, along with a record of any medical issues or illnesses I've had and how they were resolved. I also keep a log of my weight.

The paper for the divider was an old parchment colour which I stained with turquoise ink.

Events Section

At the moment I only have Christmas planning printables in this section, but I will add lists for buying birthday and anniversary gifts. It helps to have everything written down when there are so many people to buy for!

The Christmas planner also has pages for Christmas baking and organising dinner plans.

Work Section

In this section I'll keep a log of my progress at work (pay rises, meetings, performance reviews) and a yearly calendar to show when I have annual leave booked for.

I'll also track overtime and sickness, but haven't got round to doing these printables yet. Too much to think about, isn't there?!

Writing Section

I used to write quite a lot, and sometimes poetry pops into my mind. I need a central place to write it all down so I don't lose it! This is my writing section, for poetry, inspiration and general ramblings.

Car Section

I just have a log of any work done on my car, and my car information in this section, there isn't really anything else I need to add at the moment, but I could keep a copy of my insurance document in there for safe keeping.

Music Section

I love music, it plays quite a large part in every day. I like to keep a list of artists I want to hear more of, and also a list of songs that I want to learn on guitar. I'll keep my settings in this section for my track recorder when I want to record some songs.

Travel Section

I'd love to travel more, although I only get 20 days holiday a year and not enough money to go anywhere!! I have a travel bucket list in this section, and also a packing list.

Home

In this section I keep all of our contacts for utility bills, cleaning information etc. and a log of my internet passwords.

Me Section

I didn't really know what else to call this section, but it's just for personal notes and information, I also keep gift cards in this section and a wishlist.

Food Section

Food is also a big part of our day, and we do a meal plan every week. I keep Organised Mum meal planning sheets in this section (personal size but if you cut off the bottom left corner they fit in an A5), recipes and lists of recipes to try out.

And finally, in the back pocket I keep a sample of our wedding invitation :)

I hope you enjoyed my post, apologies for the huge amount of pictures but hopefully you will get some ideas from this!

Friday, 13 December 2013

I thought I'd share with you the dividers and overall theme for my personal organiser. I really love the chalkboard theme, there are so many lovely things out there!

For my dividers I used the My Minds Eye Chalk Studio collection:

My Minds Eye also do some co-ordinating stickers which were pefect to label some of my pockets:

I received an order from Organised Mum this morning, and although I'm not using their diary pages for 2014 I am using some of the supplement packs.

I use their meal planning pack every week, it keeps us organised and we know exactly how much we will spend when we do the food shopping.

I ordered their finance pages, which I have used before, which should help me budget better.

And I got their family pack too, with pages for organising holidays, Christmas, etc.

I also ordered a Lechturm pen loop in purple, I was unsure if my Staedler pens would be too thin but the loop is elastic and fits these pens perfectly, ideal for using a second coloured pen for important information on my weekly pages.

Things are looking up! The only problem is, Purple has definitely fattened up for Christmas...